World's largest uranium producer lowers annual output

The world's largest uranium producer Kazakhstan-based Kazatomprom expects lower uranium production volumes this year than previously forecast due to measures introduced to comply with the coronavirus (COVID-19) lockdown requirements, the company said Tuesday.

Kazatomprom expects the annual uranium production volume for 2020 will fall by up to 4,000 tons uranium (tU) from previous expectations of 22,750-22,800 tU, although the precise impact on production may vary from this estimate.

"These measures are expected to remain in place for three months, resulting in a lower level of wellfield development activity and, as a consequence, a reduction in production volumes," the company said.

However, the company underlined that the reduced production level is not expected to impact Kazatomprom's 2020 sales.

The company will give updated 2020 guidance for production, revenue and costs in its quarterly operations and trading update scheduled for May 4.

"More than ever, this pandemic highlights the important role that nuclear power generation plays in providing a resilient and reliable source of clean, baseload electricity for maintaining key services around the world, including hospitals, transportation, telecommunication, and food storage, as well as the heating and lighting of homes," the statement read.